18 - 24 January 2001
Issue No.517
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 18 - 24 January 2001 Issue No.517 |
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Operation overhaul
In the wake of last October's diminished success in parliamentary elections, a sub-committee formed two weeks ago by the general secretariat of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) has begun an ambitious campaign to ensure better party showing in future elections. The committee has been paying urgent field visits to various governorates in an effort to rally party support in advance of upcoming Shura Council elections in April.
Wali
Azmi
El-Shgazli
The decision to canvass leading party officials in provincial governorates follows recommendations by an evaluation committee established by NDP Chairman President Hosni Mubarak in hopes of revamping the party's image. NDP Assistant Secretary-General Kamal El-Shazli said the series of "hearing sessions" would form the basis of recommendations submitted by the sub-committee to Youssef Wali, the NDP's secretary-general and chairman of the evaluation committee, on how the party's performance can be improved ahead of elections this spring for the Shura Council, a consultative upper house without legislative powers.
El-Shazli added that the recommendations will also be discussed by the party's general secretariat before they are presented to President Mubarak. The sub-committee, headed by El-Shazli, includes three members of the party's general secretariat: Gamal Mubarak, Ahmed Ezz and Zarakia Azmi, who is chief of the presidential staff. Also included is the majority NDP leader in the Shura Council, Mohamed Ragab.
"[The meetings] are also aimed at preparing preliminary lists of the party's candidates for the Shura Council mid-term elections in April," El-Shazli said.
The team of representatives made their first stop the Suez governorate, where the NDP suffered its most humiliating defeat in the October elections and the party's four candidates lost their parliamentary seats to independents -- two of them with Nasserist sympathies. Businessman Salah Shaladim, chairman of the NDP's Suez office, submitted his resignation and was replaced by civil engineer Wael Qadour.
In the city of Suez, the sub-committee met for four hours with the governorate's top NDP officials to discuss intentions for leading provincial NDP figures to play a principal role in choosing the provincial secretary. More importantly, El-Shazli announced that provincial secretaries will no longer be allowed to run in People's Assembly or Shura Council elections. "From now on, they will have to devote all their time to the party's performance in their governorates," he said.
The decision translates into a loss of title for four provincial secretaries who are currently members of the People's Assembly or Shura Council. MP Hussein Megawer (Cairo) and Shura Council members Ahmed Habib (Damietta), El-Sayed Qassem (Port Said) and Hussein Hegazi (Kafr Al-Sheikh) will have to be replaced.
And even though El-Shazli reaffirmed that leading NDP figures who participated in founding the party will not be ousted, rumours are rampant that a large number of general secretariat members will be replaced. An informed NDP source told Al-Ahram Weekly that "although no one can predict how far the reform decisions President Mubarak is expected to take will go, it is now certain that the party's general secretariat will be a main target of the changes." Sources also disclosed that at least 10 out of the 21 secretariat members will be removed.
The same goes for old-guard chairmen of the party's 18 committees, most of whom are likely to be unseated. "Mubarak said in a press interview that a new cabinet reshuffle is not expected in the near future. He did not, however, make a single reference to the expected NDP changes," noted one NDP source, who requested anonymity. "I think these changes are going to come directly after the evaluation committee submits its report to President Mubarak." In a recent speech to a joint session of the People's Assembly and Shura Council, President Mubarak spoke of the profound desire for change expressed by people in the October elections. "The call for change here is being directed at all political parties -- especially the NDP," suggested the NDP source.
Meanwhile, several NDP members have joined forces in calling for an overhaul of the electoral system. After heated debate in the Shura Council, Fikri Makram Ebeid, former NDP secretary-general, claimed that "the time is ripe for the re-introduction of the proportional slate system." A return to the slate system would mean that candidates of each political party would be obligated to run collectively on a single ticket in each constituency, rather than individually. Any party would then need to gain a minimum percentage of the national vote to be eligible for joining parliament. This percentage was eight per cent in the 1980s, but the system was scrapped after being deemed unconstitutional. "It is true that this system was declared unconstitutional," said Ebeid, "but that doesn't mean that it has to be discarded altogether."
Ebeid argued that placing the elections under full judicial supervision was a great step forward towards free and fair elections, but "a real shift towards full democracy requires revision of the electoral system itself." Joining forces with Ebeid, Ali Lutfi, a former prime minister, argued that the slate system reinforces the performance and stability of political parties.
Mohamed Ragab, NDP majority leader in the Shura Council, told the Weekly that the NDP is planning to tackle four main issues in advance of future elections. "Topping these issues is the revision of the electoral system," said Ragab. "This is important for strengthening the performance of political parties and encouraging people to actively participate in elections."
Two other issues are the revision of voters' lists and reducing the number of voters registered with each polling station to between 500 and 800, Ragab explained. In recent elections, voter lists were rife with erroneous and repeated names, and more than 3,000 people were expected to vote at one polling station. Finally, Ragab raised the issue of limiting the funds spent by candidates on their election. "A ceiling must be placed on expenditures in electioneering campaigns to prevent businessmen from winning the majority of parliamentary seats," Ragab said.
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